Property taxes and how to protest

The Harris Central Appraisal District sets the appraised value on a property, and the owner can protest it.

The deadline

Under Texas Tax Code 41.44(a), a protest has to be filed "not later than May 15 or the 30th day after the date that notice to the property owner was delivered, whichever is later".¹ The deadline is measured from the date the notice was delivered, so a late notice moves it. If the district misses the April 15 mailing date, HCAD says the deadline becomes 30 days after the date printed on the notice.² If May 15 falls on a weekend or holiday, it moves to the next business day.²

A protest can be filed online through the district's owner account, by mail with a postmark on or before the deadline, or in person at 13013 Northwest Freeway. There is no after-hours drop box.²

Unequal appraisal

Texas is a non-disclosure state: "Unlike most states, Texas laws do not require mandatory disclosure of sale prices."³ Appraisal districts take sale prices from deeds, voluntary closing statements and third-party vendors.

Section 41.41(a)(2) allows a protest on unequal appraisal, decided under section 41.43(b).¹

The statute puts the burden on the district. Section 41.43(b) says an unequal appraisal protest "shall be determined in favor of the protesting party unless the appraisal district establishes" that the property's appraisal ratio is at or below the median for a reasonable sample of similar properties, or that its appraised value is at or below the median of comparable properties appropriately adjusted.¹

That standard does not require proving the house is worth less. It requires showing that it is assessed higher per square foot than comparable neighbors, using the district's own published values, which are free.⁴

The burden shifts to the owner in one case. Under section 41.43(d), an owner who does not answer a rendition request or the chief appraiser's request for information before the hearing carries the burden, "and if the property owner fails to meet that standard, the protest shall be determined in favor of the appraisal district".¹

What to check

The office is the Harris Central Appraisal District, not Harris County Appraisal District. The board voted the change on August 17, 2022 and it took effect at the start of 2023, "to help property owners distinguish between the responsibilities of the county government and the appraisal district".⁵ The acronym stayed the same.

1. Value per square foot against the median for the HCAD neighborhood code. Much of Timberwood is under codes beginning 2403.⁴
2. Whether HCAD's physical record is correct: square footage, year built, grade, condition, bedroom and bath count, pool, garage, outbuildings.⁴
3. The homestead cap. On a homestead the appraised value cannot rise by more than 10 percent of last year's appraised value, plus the value of any new improvements, under Tax Code section 23.23.⁶
4. Exemptions not being received: homestead, over-65, disability, veteran. A homestead exemption can be filed from the district's own app at no cost.⁷

The homestead deadline, and the one most people miss

A homestead exemption application has to be filed before May 1, under Tax Code section 11.43(d), so April 30 is the last day. The chief appraiser can extend that once, by up to 60 days, for good cause.⁸

A late application still works for two years back. Under section 11.431(a), the chief appraiser has to accept a late homestead application filed up to two years after the delinquency date, which is February 1. If it is approved, section 11.431(b) requires the taxes to be recalculated and any overpayment refunded without the owner having to ask.⁸ Somebody who bought a house and never filed can still get those years back.

A Timberwood detail

HCAD groups much of the neighborhood as built after 1990, and the stock inside those groupings is largely 1990s.⁴ A newer infill house may be compared against properties that do not resemble it.

Still open

Which neighbors have protested, what evidence worked, whether they went informal or to an ARB hearing, and whether a paid protest firm was worth the fee.

See also

• Home insurance
• Flooding
• About Timberwood